Author Note: This is my prelude, but it reads like a stand alone. I put it up on deviantart for my friend to read because she was all antsy for something I'd wrote. nervous... Anyhow, don't expect updates to be regular. As a matter of fact, don't expect much at all. None of these characters are mine.
Sparire – to vanish, to die away.
Life's not entirely fair. Some things have evened out, in the long run. A lot of that was thanks to my friend and personal hero, Percy Jackson. He was a child of prophecy, born to make a world of difference at the tender age of sixteen. That could have easily been me, my sister, or Thalia. He took that on. With lots of help he made the future possible for all of the demigods at Camp Half-Blood and at Camp Jupiter.
Even though there are many available options for living as a demigod not much has changed where I sit. The warmth of the home hearth is always open, but the darkness that follows is nothing I wish to bring upon such a happy place.
Hidden away among the dead, except for when the people who I cared about that happened to remain among the living were in dire need of me. My half-sister is the worst and best thing about the world. Hazel Levesque is the only reason that my skin has any pigment aside from that pale green tinge from Tartarus.
She summons me for little things like they're life and death situations—the upcoming war games, her and Frank's anniversary, my birthday. Long story. Speak of the demigod.
A rainbow obscures my peripheral and suddenly there's a face before me. Behind her I glimpse the overly-bulky form of her Ares blessed boyfriend. I hear the boisterous noises of those heroes from the Prophecy of Seven and that weight in my chest crushes my organs. Hazel's lips quirk like she knows that I will be unable to refuse her. I scowl and cross my arms. Mentally readying my vain refusal.
"Nico, you have to come. We're celebrating the defeat of Gaea! It'll be just us, on the Argo II. Come back to the mortal world for a night." Her face is more demanding than imploring.
"I'm busy Hazel." Hoarse and tired.
"No, you're not. You're coming right now." She ends the message there and I'm sorely tempted to let her be disappointed. I scowl even harder as I move through the shadows and appear on the deck of the Argo II. Leo's built a masterpiece. As broken as she was after subduing the goddess Gaea and her army of giants I am not surprised that she's whole again. Between heartbreak girl and this ship I wondered who he was more devoted to.
The moonlight from the waning moon casts lonely light on the railing and sails. The empty crow's nest draws my eyes, the place I haunted while I lead the others to the Doors of Death. I pull the shadows closer and am almost gone before I hear a call. "Nico! Come down here!" Hazel sounds so happy there is no chance to escape. Begrudging steps lead the way down to the hull and the scent and atmosphere contained below welcomes and repels me.
Piper is sitting at the table, smiling at something Leo's said. Jason is naturally at her side and he meets my gaze without fear. The son of Jupiter is much more at home among the demigods of Camp Half-blood then I am. I manage a nod and he smiles at me. Hazel tells me to sit beside her. Seeing who is on the other side I can barely get myself to move. My body moves woodenly, I'm a marionette and my sister's whim is pulling the strings.
My body is aflame with awareness that I know I can't shake. The conversations didn't stop when I'd come, but when I sat immediately Jason had to speak.
"How've you been Nico?" That demigod didn't know when to quit. He was hell-bent on making a friend out of me.
"Well." It was a mixture of challenge and dismissal.
"You've missed out on a lot." He didn't sound put out at all. Obviously I had to be more than the son of Hades and outright unfriendly. I didn't have to worry about anyone here anymore. They weren't due to be taking up any more quests. Their world had earned a respite.
"That's true Nico." The voice was enough to make my world stand still. Without meaning to I turned my head and saw him. Annabeth. As though I hadn't known immediately where they were. "We've been sort of smoothing the peace along. Negotiating an exchange program that doesn't require memory wiping. I think Mrs. O'Leary misses you." The words tumbled out of his mouth, if I hadn't known any better I'd say he sounded nervous.
Annabeth's arm shifted and I saw Percy's pulse slow in his neck. She must have moved to hold his hand. I nodded again, mute. My sister pressed a cool sphere against my hand. A pomegranate. I lightly bit my lip to keep my "creepy" smile from my face. After surviving on the seeds of this fruit while I was trapped in a jar you'd think that it would be the last thing I wanted to eat. Since my time in Tartarus, an even longer story, it's one of the few things my stomach can stand. When I spoke about it to my sister she said it was probably because it comforted me.
Annabeth smiled warmly at me, although I could sense the vague unease that most people get around me. I'd inherited the powers of death that my father controlled. No living person would ever be completely at ease around me. Except my siblings. I must have missed what she said, because the next expression she displayed was mildly concerned and amused.
"Hm?" Everybody laughed good-naturedly though I felt a bit miffed. Percy spoke up.
"Well, let's get this party started!" Like that it was on. Leo hit a button on his Wii remote and music blared from the speakers and a light show started. They ate the small feast that was on the table and talked loudly about their lives. After I ate about five seeds I'd had enough. It may sound funny coming from a guy who spends all his time underground but I needed air.
A small smile spread across my lips and I caught my sister's eye. She understood and turned to Frank to tell him that we were going to go outside. He made a move to stand and was stilled by her touch. She shushed him and told him to stay and enjoy his food. They'd been waiting for me it seems, and he hadn't eaten all day.
"You used to be able to sit with everyone just fine." No preamble. "Nico, what happened after we closed the Doors of Death?" Panic clawed at my insides and shadows danced over my vision. We'd moved to the bow and I had the railing in a death grip. I felt her gaze on me trying to will my secrets into the light.
"It's just the way I am Hazel." It sounded like a lie to me too.
"No, it's not." She was so sure, hard to believe that we hadn't known each other at all little over 3 years ago. "Nico di Angelo."
It was a tone of voice I'd not even heard from my own mother. My "little" sister had a lot of cheek.
"Hazel Levesque." I mocked, a presumably creepy smile broke my blank expression.
"I want you to stay."
I turned away from her and stared out into the night sky. The scattering of constellations and far away suns proved an interesting enough distraction. I stubbornly tried to recall all the names of the stars in silence. I've already made up my mind.
"Nico, Hazel. What's up?" Just like that everything else is gone. This had to stop. We both turned away from the stars and turned to the brightest creäture on this Earth. He's sounded unsure and cautious.
Hazel let loose an exasperated sigh. "Nico wants to live in the underworld full-time. Be the Ghost king for the rest of his natural life instead of being here with me and Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-blood." Hazel put her fists on her hips and had a sharp frown on her face. Her whole body radiated her opinion. I glanced at Percy and found his expression much the same.
"No."
Outrage. Insult. Hope. I settled for insulted. "You two can't make me not live where I want to." It came out colder and angrier than I'd meant it. They turned on me with twin expressions.
"I can't visit you in the Underworld Nico. You'll miss out on everything! We've got a chance to live in a new world here. Our parents, the other demigods, we're all finally okay with each other and you just want to leave?" Percy somehow spoke before Hazel, whose mouth was still slightly open with her own reproach to my statement. His eyes were heated in a way I hadn't had seen since I surprised him in the underworld and ended up pinned beneath his sword, Riptide.
"You could always Iris message me, Hazel does it all the time." The words left ash in my mouth.
"Iris messages aren't the same. There are some things you just have to be here for Nico. I want to keep my brother here, in my life." Unnamed emotion stifled her voice. If there were any treasure beneath the stationary Argo II it would be on the surface.
I tried to back away, feeling cornered. Percy noticed and moved to the side. How on Earth was he noticing little queues like that? I must be showing a lot more on my face then I mean to. Hazel moved to grab my hand like it was the only way to realize her wish.
Since she had control over the mist maybe it was. I felt as though I could not shadow travel as long as she was holding me. Percy cleared his throat and decided then he should tell Hazel that Frank was wondering when she'd come down before he came up. She scowled but as soon as he caught her eye she let go of me. I'd almost left as soon as she did. But Percy turned his sea green eyes on me and kept me rooted.
"We're not done Nico." She went back down below and the party happily welcomed her back.
It was hard to think when he was staring at me. Through the rough stuttering beat of my heart I could barely breathe. I waited for Percy to speak, but he just stared intently at me. Like he was trying to do what my sister was—learn all my secrets just with his eyes. The panic from before cocooned itself around me and harshly whispered my fears until they echoed cacophonously from the corners of my mind.
"Don't disappear Nico." That was all he said. I couldn't see, but I felt warmth. My first reaction was to jerk away. But he just gripped me tighter and I swear on the river Styx he growled.
"Let me go!" It was less demanding, the panic made me sound weak. "Percy!"
He kept his grip on me. "No, Nico. I want to talk to you. You'll leave if I don't do this. Don't pretend. You nearly disappeared as soon as Hazel let you go." I didn't know it, but I was shaking. Shaking like a drug addict shakes during withdrawals.
I don't know how long he waited to continue.
"You may not believe me, but I want you to stick around. We're friends aren't we?" I swallowed the bitterness down. He must have taken that as a bad sign. He moved away a little so he could look me in the eye. "Aren't we?"
"Yes." I was breathless. He was so close. Invading my personal space. I should hit him.
"Then be here Nico." He had a thoughtful frown. "I—"
"You need to talk to me about the pit don't you?" His breath caught and it was his turn to swallow something bitter. "Don't you have Annabeth for that?"
If looks from mere demigods could turn people into stone. Perhaps he learned a thing or two from Medusa before he lopped off her head.
"I almost died while we were down there. I saw what Tartarus was really like, underneath the mist. I became something darker than I could handle from that one glimpse. Didn't you see it like that, the entire time you were there?" Harsh breaths, tense grips on my arms. I wrenched free from him and retaliated.
He caught my fist, damned ADHD-demigod-reflexed jackass.
"Annabeth can't understand that, she didn't see it. You are the only one who can understand Nico. Don't leave. I can't keep not dealing with this. I don't see how you can either." This damned man, how can he be so defeated? He drops my fist and I sigh.
"When did I say that I was leaving anyways?" my voice is a reassuring grumble. He almost looked like he could kiss me.
I'm a good liar like that.